Bedtime Thoughts
by pacphys
Summary: Don removed and stored his gear for the night. He sighed contentedly as he allowed himself to fall into his bed. The sheets and his blanket were clean, if slightly threadbare, and all the items had the gentle smell of the laundry detergent they were currently using. It was comforting and the covers were nice and warm. And he was nearly asleep...


Leonardo poked his head into Donatello's workspace. He had intended to demand that his brother actually go to bed now, but it seemed that, for once, Don was ahead of him. Most of the monitors and equipment that usually hummed in the workspace had been shut down, and Don was turning off the final monitor.

"Heading to bed?" Leo asked his brother hopefully. Usually, getting Don to actually go to sleep was something of a battle, but that did not seem to be the case tonight.

"Yeah," Don responded, "it's late, and I am at a good point to take a break." He checked on one more monitor before turning to Leo. "I'm actually kind of tired."

Leo debated whether or not he should be worried about that statement. Don almost never admitted to being tired in the evening. He was regularly exhausted in the mornings, but the evening was another matter entirely. Don was constantly working late into their nights. It was just what he did. Just to be sure, Leo reached out and touched his brother's forehead.

"Temperature seems okay..."

"I'm fine, Leo." Don rolled his eyes and batted his brother's hand away. The scrutiny of his motives for going to bed was not entirely appreciated. "Do I really stay up that late that often...?" He knew full well that the answer was yes. His brother's actions were not without precedent., even if Don did not want to admit to that precedent. The look on Leo's face only confirmed his own thoughts.

"Don't answer that." Don cut his brother off before a verbal response could be given. The look on Leo's face and the raised brow was more than enough.

Leo stepped aside and allowed his brother to pass out of the work space. He turned and went to his own room, shutting the door softly behind him. He did not sleep though, not until he was sure Donnie had gone to bed. Laying silently, Leo listened to the sounds of the lair as his brother finished getting ready for bed. Earlier in the evening Leo had spotted Raph heading to bed, and he knew that Mikey would likely go to bed when his monster movie ended.

Meanwhile, Donatello made his way to the bathroom. He didn't take long in there, but when he opened the door to exit another brother was standing there. Don hadn't heard him come up, which was probably more of a testament to how tired Don was than it was to his brother's stealth skills. Not that his brother was any slouch in that department when he wanted to be. Still, it seemed entirely unlikely that his brother had used any of those skills in approaching the door. Don stared at the brother in the doorway for a moment.

"Do you know how octopuses mate?" Michelangelo asked curiously, cocking his head slightly to the side. Mikey was a little surprised that not only did Don not answer right away, it was almost a full three count of staring before his brother formulated any actual words in response to his question. He was about to ask if Donnie was okay. Dude looked tired. Don had that All-work-and-no-play... or sleep look he sometimes got, which might have explained the lack of immediate response.

"Why on Earth would I know how octopuses mate?" Don asked, staring at his brother. It had taken a moment to convince himself that the words he was sure he had heard had actually come out of his brother's mouth. They were just bizarre enough that Don had entertained the idea that they may be a sleep deprivation induced hallucination. On the other hand, this was Mikey.

"I dunno," Mikey responded, "but you always know weird things like that."

"I don't know how octopuses mate." Don responded with finality, before stepping around his brother and exiting the bathroom before making his way to his own room. "And I don't want to know! Too many tentacles..."

Behind him, Mike snorted. He wondered if Don even knew how kinky that had sounded. Mike shrugged and bounced away. The orange-masked turtle was off to find something entertaining or at least more interesting than Don's retreating shell. By the time he hopped onto the couch, he had completely forgotten whatever had brought on the question in the first place. It hadn't been that important anyway. Whatever it had been had been important enough to ask his brainy brother, but not important enough to Google it himself. That was work. And it wasn't worth work.

Don removed and stored his gear for the night. He sighed contentedly as he allowed himself to fall into his bed. The sheets and his blanket were clean, if slightly threadbare, and all the items had the gentle smell of the laundry detergent they were currently using. It was comforting and the covers were nice and warm. And he was nearly asleep.

_'How _do _octopuses mate.'_

Don's eyes popped open. Really? Was this really happening? He was tired! He wanted to sleep!

But apparently his brain had other ideas.

Don quieted his mind using one of the many meditation techniques that Master Splinter had taught them. It was a technique he had learned as a child and used successfully for years. Many a restful night had been thanks at least in part to the the light meditation. He snuggled into his covers and once again tried to sleep. And he was almost there too...

_'Do octopuses ever get tied in knots?'_

No... No! Stop. That's not fair! Go to sleep! We're not doing this. Nope, nope, nope! Don pulled the covers over his head. He stayed under them long enough to be reminded why it wasn't a good idea. He couldn't breathe effectively like that. He pulled the covers back down, rolled onto his plastron and closed his eyes.

_'If they do, do they ever need help to get untied?'_

Oh this was so not happening. Come on, Brain. Shut up! Don made a second attempt to quiet his mind. This time took longer than the last one. Though threadbare, his covers were warm and soft. He was in desperate need of a good night's sleep. In the past three nights he had been up far too late and awake too early twice. The third night had been an all-nighter. It was beyond time for a nice, restful sleep. The lovely covers, soft bed and too many nights of too little sleep should have been a recipe for a wonderfully quiet night!

_'Do they ever get tied in knots with each other?'_

Oh shell, no. No... Don rolled over again. Desperately trying to sleep. Desperately trying to banish any thoughts of octopuses. And he almost succeeded!

_'And if they _do_ get tied to each other, how do they get untied?'_

Well, apparently Donatello was at the mercy of his own brain tonight, and it did not seem to be feeling merciful. This was so not fair. Don rolled over and flopped onto his back, arms out to the sides. Near giving up hope. This was Mikey's fault! Don had been on his way to bed! He could have been spared this!

_'Do they need a third octopus to come untangle them?'_

This was not happening.

_'What if that one also gets tied up?'_

Oh for crying out loud. Don was going to catch Mikey and string him up in the dojo by his toes for this one. Once more, he tried to curl up on his side and think about something else... anything else! He pulled the pillow over his head as though it could banish the thoughts. He had to readjust it slightly. It's difficult to breathe through a pillow too. Out of other options, he started reciting pi in his head.

_'-6095505- How do you untangle a net of octopuses? -82231'_

No. Way! No. Nonono! One last shot. One last ditch effort. Even Pi failed him! In an act of desperation, Donatello started counting sheep.

"_58, 59, 60, 61, 6- does a net of octopuses count as an -"_

GAH! Glancing at the clock, Don found that four hours had passed in this manner. Time for training was fast approaching. He groaned and got out of bed, returning to his work space. This night was a bust. It wasn't even worth trying to sleep anymore. He powered up a laptop and set it on the desk.

As he started researching his nighttime wonderings... he sort of wished he hadn't.

Don didn't know how much time had passed before Leo stepped out of his room, and eventually made his way to the main room. Leo was surprised to find Don awake and back in his workspace.

"I thought you went to bed."

"I did," Don replied, "sort of."

"Sort of? Did you sleep at all?" Leo frowned at the wording. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant. Don looked even more exhausted than he had the night before, and that was saying something.

"I tried." Don admitted. He had really tried to go to sleep, but he had found sleep to be elusive this night.

Frowning at the video of an octopus still playing on the screen, Leonardo's curiosity got the better of him. "What are you doing?"

"Um... Researching..."

"I can see that, Donnie." Leo responded dryly. "What are you researching?"

"You're better off not knowing." Don informed his brother, suppressing a shudder. "Isn't it time for training?"

Don closed the laptop almost too quickly, causing it to snap shut more loudly than he had intended. He got up quickly and stumbled toward the dojo. No... the tangling and untangling of octopuses was definitely something Don could have lived a long and happy life without having thought about. Leo shrugged as his brother passed, and he turned toward the dojo as well, moving more quickly than his clearly exhausted sibling.

Don yawned as he followed his brother to the dojo. It had been an appallingly long night despite his every attempt to spend it in bed. Don settled into his spot, leaving a space for Raph between himself and Leo. A moment later, Mikey came bounding into the room and flopped down next to Don.

"Hey, bro. You look tired... like, more than usual. Didn't you sleep?"


End file.
